I consider my most important achievements graduating from the UW School of Nursing, receiving my nursing license, and completing my honors research project for the UW School of Nursing.

Professional aspirations

During this fellowship I hope that I can challenge myself, diversify my skills, listen, and learn as much as I possibly can working with Mamas del Río.

KUSKAYA RESEARCH PROJECT

Optimizing Community Health Agent Success and Program Outcomes in Peru: Identifying a Model Community Health Agent Profile

Community health agents are recognized as effective way of promoting health and preventive health services in communities without adequate access to health services, especially in low-income countries. They serve as a link between the formal health sector and their community, often serving multiple needs of the community. Their duties can include health promotion and education, system strengthening, case management, and advocacy, among others. While there is nearly ubiquitous agreement in the literature that CHAs should be from the community in which they will be working and therefore have in depth knowledge and understanding of the social structures and culture of the community, there is little agreement on how the CHAs should be selected from the community or what criteria should be sought out in the volunteers, and even less scientific evidence to support these processes.

The objetive of the study is to identify characteristics of CHA that can be used to predict success in their work and define an ideal profile of a Peruvian CHA.